Sometimes an employee’s leave of absence has a clear beginning and end date, but in other cases, it’s a bit more open-ended. An employee may have a medical condition, a sick family member, or another qualifying reason that requires them to use their leave time in smaller increments instead of all at once — even for the same condition.
Often, an intermittent leave of absence falls under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), but other employment laws and company leave policies may apply too.
Here’s what HR teams need to know about intermittent FMLA leave and ADA leave, and how you can use HR automation to streamline employee leave requests.
An intermittent leave of absence is when an employee takes a period of time away from work in incremental blocks of time, rather than all at once. If each period of leave is for the same condition, then it’s usually treated as a single leave of absence. If multiple types of leave are involved, then each one needs to be considered separately.
For example, if an employee requests leave to take care of a sick family member, or to treat the employee’s own serious health condition, they may be entitled to intermittent FMLA leave. For other types of leave, such as parental leave or personal leave, the employer may have some say over how the leave is allocated.
Either way, it’s important for your human resources (HR) team to track leave balances so your employee knows how much of their leave entitlement they have left.
Why would an employee request an intermittent leave of absence instead of a sick day or continuous leave of absence? It usually applies in cases where the amount of leave needed is greater than a sick day but spread out over an extended period. Here are a few cases in which an employee might qualify for intermittent leave of absence:
Some medical conditions require multiple doctor’s appointments or ongoing medical treatments that don’t fit neatly into a single period of sick leave. An employee might have a chronic condition with unpredictable flare-ups, such as migraines.
With intermittent leave, the employee can provide a medical certification once, without having to repeat the process for each medical appointment. If the condition continues, they can submit a recertification of eligibility from their health care provider.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL.gov), a military leave of absence may refer to military caregiver leave — in which an employee takes time off to care for an ill or injured servicemember — or a qualifying exigency, in which an employee needs to attend to the deployment of an immediate family member overseas.
Since a qualifying exigency may cover things like going to counseling, attending military events, or joining a service member on Rest & Recuperation leave, it may take the form of intermittent leave rather than a one-time absence.
Some companies have a personal leave policy that provides additional leave benefits that aren’t covered by employment law. Maybe you offer sabbatical leave to eligible employees who have worked with you for an extended period of time.
While a sabbatical usually lasts for a continuous period, you have some discretion in how it’s applied. For example, New York University (NYU) allows faculty members to request their sabbatical be split into “two terms falling within a seven-year period.”
Is an intermittent leave of absence paid or unpaid? Are employees entitled to keep their job regardless of how much sick leave they take? That depends on which laws apply in each case. Here are three laws that may apply to intermittent leaves of absence.
If an employee qualifies for medical leave or military leave, they may be protected by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). This federal law entitles employees to 12 workweeks of leave — 26 for military caregiver leave — in a 12-month period.
FMLA applies to “covered employers,” including private companies with 50 or more employees, and provides job-protected leave, which means the employee must be allowed to keep their job or return to an equivalent position.
FMLA usually provides unpaid leave, unless the employer has its own paid leave policies, such as paid parental leave or paid sick leave.
The Americans with Disabilities Act may also provide for intermittent leave, whether or not an employee’s FMLA benefits apply. Under the ADA, employers must provide “reasonable accommodation” to support an employee’s disability, such as a flexible schedule or frequent breaks throughout the workday.
An intermittent leave of absence may be a reasonable accommodation for a short-term disability or for chronic mental health conditions like anxiety, especially if the employee only experiences flare-ups occasionally.
Employers must make a reasonable effort to find a solution through the ADA interactive process; if you can’t reach an agreement, seek legal advice.
Some states have employment laws that provide more benefits than using FMLA leave alone. For example, Paid Leave Oregon provides up to 12 weeks of paid leave following an adoption, the birth of a child, or foster care placement. It also provides safe leave for survivors of stalking, domestic violence, bias crimes, and sexual assault.
Like FMLA, this leave law allows for intermittent leave, but employees on intermittent leave may receive their payment on a different schedule than those who aren’t.
An employee may not specifically ask for an intermittent leave of absence — or even use the words “FMLA leave” at all. It’s the employer’s responsibility to assess leave requests and determine when an employee qualifies for intermittent leave.
Here are three best practices for handling intermittent leave of absences.
Employees are expected to provide advance notice of their leave request as much as possible, so make it easy for them with a self-service portal. Verbal leave requests are still valid, but it’s easier on everyone if employees can submit a request online.
When you use Pulpstream’s leave of absence management platform, you can assess incoming requests with rule-based validations. Our cloud-based platform reduces the time spent on each case from 8 hours to just 15 minutes.
Some intermittent leave requests can be approved automatically, but others will require a medical certification. Remember, intermittent leave is for ongoing conditions and may only call for occasional recertification. If an employee takes multiple periods of leave for different conditions, you can request a certification for each.
With Pulpstream’s self-service portal, employees can upload documents safely and securely, helping you comply with FMLA and ADA confidentiality requirements.
When an employee qualifies for intermittent leave, they can take leave in the smallest increment of time you allow for other types of leave — no less than 15 minutes.
If their doctor’s appointments or caregiver commitments follow a pattern, you can put them on reduced schedule leave, in which they stick to an intermittent work schedule, such as two days of work per week.
Tracking FMLA leave can be complex, so use a leave tracking tool like Pulpstream to ensure they don’t exceed 12 weeks of leave in a 12-month period.
An intermittent leave of absence may apply when an employee has an ongoing medical condition or caregiver obligations that require occasional days off. It may fall under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the ADA, or state employment laws.
Pulpstream’s cloud-based platform supports leave of absence automation, allowing HR teams to facilitate and streamline leave of absence requests and track leave balances. Employees can submit their own requests online and upload supporting documents — saving time and helping you meet your HR compliance obligations.
Request a demo today to see how Pulpstream can streamline your LoA process!